Dear Members,
I know a lot of you are concerned or just interested in the goings on with the pond on holes 12 and 17 and what is being done to alleviate the problem. Unfortunately, there appears to be no easy fixes (or cheap one’s) and we are continuing to look at many possible solutions. We have hired a engineering firm that has been on the job since this summer. The root cause of the problem is that the ground water has rose in that area with all the rain we had this spring and water is seeping through the hill and under the liner from the creek on hole 11.
The liner continued to rise this late summer and fall even after we received very little rain and that was because as the liner rose the water on top of it would “spill” out of the pond through the grates and go into the creek on 11 and then it would drain back through the hill and under the liner. The water is no longer draining out of the pond so the liner has actually dropped in the past few weeks, especially in front of the 17th green. As the water table continues to drop like it has for the past 5 years the liner should drop also. It appears that most of the fixes include draining the pond, slitting the liner and pumping out all the water under the liner and then applying some pumps and drains that would automatically pump out water as it builds in the future (think about your sump pump at home, except there would be multiple pumps). Unfortunately this is extremely expensive ($250,000+) and the resources are not readily available.
Next week we may experiment and cut a few holes in strategic places around the biggest bubbles under the rip-rap (rocks) that line the pond to see if that helps, we’ll know immediately if it did help. We are also looking at covering the ice this winter with 6 inches of rock and when the ice melts the rock would sink and push down the liner, but that probably wouldn’t work by itself – something has to be done to alleviate the pressure of the water under the liner and the buoyancy of the liner.
Like I said, there are unfortunately no easy fixes for this but I wanted you to know that we are obviously just as concerned as you are and we are getting suggestions and feedback from all the experts in this area that we can find. One concern that I’ve heard a lot is what will happen when it freezes over – we’ve been assured by our engineering company that the ice will not affect the liner even the parts of the liner that are above the water.
I know this doesn’t answer many questions but hopefully it gives some insight and dispels some of the rumors. Thank you.
Your pro,
Don
